Tampa Bay Junior Achievement Finance Park Slated To Open Sept. 13

TAMPA, FL -- A year in the making, Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay will unveil its much-anticipated Junior Achievement Finance Park in North Tampa on Sept. 13.

Located adjacent to the Junior Achievement BizTown at 13707 N. 22nd St., the 18,000-square-foot educational facility will serve more than 13,000 Tampa Bay middle school students each year.

Community and education partners, business leaders, sponsors and donors will gather, along with the first group of eighth-grade students to walk through its doors, to celebrate the opening of the JA Finance Park, which will house an innovative economic simulation program that will provide students personal finance and budgeting skills.

“After two and half years of development, we are so pleased to welcome students through the doors of the new Junior Achievement Finance Park,” said Richard George, president of JA Tampa Bay. “It is our mission to ensure every child in our region has a fundamental understanding of our economic system and their role in it. JA Finance Park will do just this, but we also hope it will inspire their future careers and empower them to own their economic success.”

The construction and start-up costs exceeded $5 million, Coupled with annual operational expenses, the campaign reached more than $10 million.

Designed by Fleischman Garcia Architects, JA Finance Park boasts 18 storefronts and a first-of-its-kind Career Discovery Center. This experiential center offers state-of-the art technology and will provide student participants with an immersive, hands-on experience in searching for future careers.

Additional features of the facility include a Hall of Fame Gallery, presented by Sheryl and Joe Teague, dedicated to the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame recipients. Among the honorees recognized for advancing the mission of Junior Achievement are: education advocates and philanthropists Pam and Les Muma, former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, former Tampa Mayor Bill Poe Sr. and philanthropist and education advocate Gus Stavros, to name a few.

JA Finance Park’s 18 storefronts represent the local business community, including financial services, health care, credit, utilities and manufacturing. Students participating in JA Finance Park will have the opportunity to experience their financial futures and careers firsthand.

Upon entering the center, students receive a “life situation” with job, income, education and family scenarios. Based upon their adult personas, students visit businesses in the simulation to gather information to use in making financial decisions, such as managing a household budget, using banking services, and making purchasing and investment decisions. At the end of the day, students will have gained an understanding of the educational and financial decisions that will help shape their future.

Additionally, the JA Finance Park program is rooted in the Hillsborough County Public Schools curriculum. The Hillsborough County School Board has mandated the curriculum and a visit to JA Finance Park for all eighth-graders.

The new facility is adjacent to the existing Junior Achievement BizTown, presented by Pam and Les Muma. Together, the two facilities make up the former Tampa Mayor Bill Poe Family Junior Achievement Campus.

“Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay has been a trusted partner with JA BizTown through the years, so when we learned about JA Finance Park, we knew that the program would deliver on its goals and set up students to succeed,” said Jeff Eakins, Hillsborough County Public Schools superintendent and board member. “JA Finance Park aligns closely with the career exploration and life plans that are required in the eighth grade Florida State Standards, but it also provides students with real-world situations that will make textbook lessons more real and relevant.”

The region served by JA of Tampa Bay encompasses 12 Florida counties, including Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco. Last year, Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay reached 81,307 students in the Tampa Bay area.

Video via Junior Achievement Tampa Bay

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